A Reason
by Just Wait And See
Summary: A girl who lives for tennis and a group of boys who live to win at tennis. Showing her how to live her life uncovers the secrets that they hide from the world and what unites them. There are reasons why Rikkaidai must always win. Yukimura/FemRyoma
1. The Rules of Rest Days

Mixed Doubles Comp: August 1-5

**Author's note:**

**Some research on Japan schooling and I found out that high school is only grades 10-12. I need Ryoma and the other characters to be older for this story because of the timeline I am constructing can't have her being 5 years old when an event happened. **

**Also the summer Olympics 2012 are happening in London and mixed doubles is in fact going to be brought back for the first time in 88 years. America holds the last gold metal for this event (Wightman-Williams Pair) and I think that it would be important for them to hold onto the medal.**

**I will be trying to make this, as close to real life as possible, so there are not going to be any Inui changing age/gender drinks in here and a lot more situations that would be normal life. I am going to try to make the characters have more details put into their backgrounds and personalities that Konomi skipped on. Seriously there has to be a reason why every one of those tennis players acts the way they do and really even Seigaku's players don't have much of a background story to them. **

**Ages:**

**Ryoga- 24**

**Kevin-24**

**Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, Niou, Marui, Jackal, Yagyuu-17**

**Kirihara-16**

**Ryoma-15**

**Japanese -**"Prince of Tennis"

**English- "Prince of Tennis"**

**Thoughts- **_"Prince of Tennis"_

**Start:**

Olympic Arc: The Rules of Rest Days

London, England

July 1st, 2012

Tokyo to Japan estimated flight time: 12 hours and 23 minutes

A group of eight people in an airport is not an unusual thing. There was nothing unusual about this group at all actually. They all dressed in a gold yellow jumpsuit uniform with a black strip across the chest and white strips lining the tops of their arms. They were obviously a team to those who spared a glance at them.

The 2012 Summer Olympics were being held in London that year, so it was not odd to see a school team arriving to see the events or try to train with the Olympians. Though the opening ceremonies were not until the 27th, athletes were arriving daily so to get used to the playing field.

The gold and black team was a school one, not an Olympic one, though they would have liked to be. They were Rikkaidai Fuzoku Tennis Club, the number one high school tennis team in Japan for the last two years and they planned to continue that streak for another year.

That brings us to the purpose of the dreary-eyed regulars being not in Japan, but England. The prize for winning the National Championship had not only been the title this year, there had been an addition of tickets to watch the Olympic tennis events and a one month training trip before. So after the one sempai, who held the reserve spot all year, had been kicked out of trip to make room for the new kouhai Kirihara Akaya or Akaya Kirihara, now that they were in England, Rikkaidai was ready to train. The team of eight tennis players was determined to continue their winning streak for another year. The one goal for this trip… to become invincible.

Tennis lead her to this place, so she didn't get why her tennis rackets and shoes were locked up in a place unknown to anyone other then her coach and older brother. She had been sent out with the advice "have fun."

There was nothing fun except tennis for her. Sightseeing was boring, '_how long can you stare at one object for?'_ Shopping was a torturous activity, _'how much stuff does one person need?'_ unless she was in a tennis shop, which at this point in time her brother ban her from. The only thing that the green haired girl wanted to do was continue training, but she was not allowed and if caught trying to do so she would not be allowed to play for even longer.

That led her to the situation she was in now. Bored out of her mind wandering the streets of London. The worst part, staring right at her face was the greatest temptation. A tennis court.

"Sempai-tachi! Hurry up!" A black haired teenager requested to the older teenagers walking at a more relaxed pace behind him.

"Tandoru, Kirihara! Compose yourself!" Demanded the ball cap wearing teen in the back.

"But Semp-"

"How are you even going to ask for a match, Aka-chan? You suck at English." The statement was finished with the blowing of a bubble. The red head that said this had a grin on his face as his pink bubble gum popped.

"Don't call me Aka-chan! And I don't suck at English! Anyway Yukimura-buchou will ask for me, right buchou?" Kirihara pointed his question to the feminine looking blue haired captain, widening his eyes giving him an almost angelic look as he pleaded.

"Do not demand Yukimura-buchou to do such insignificant tasks for you! You could do them your self if you ever felt the need to study!" Sanada Genichirou bellowed at the boy.

Yukimura spoke up for the first time, "It's fine, Sanada. Anyways, I doubt we will find any Olympians at the street courts." He gave Akaya a small smile as they continued to walk.

"Buchou, what I don't get is that on our one day to explore the city we are following Kirihara to try and track down some Olympian players. That most likely won't even be there." The tan boy in the back was right. Jackal was usual the one to calm everyone down and the practical one of the group. To hear him question the sanity of the group for skipping out on a tour of the city to do something that they would be doing every other day of the month was also normal.

So like normal, the conversation continued on, ignoring the sensible player.

"There is a 4% chance that we will find a Olympian on the courts." Notified the closed-eye member of the group.

"I like those odds!" Akaya grinned increasing his already brisk walking pace.

"Puri. Are you sure we're going the right way? I thought we were suppose to tur-"

"No, Niou!" The whole group roared at the prankster with no sense of direction.

"We have arrived." The Gentleman stated to the group, as they had not seemed to notice during their conversation.

'_Ryoga wouldn't get mad at me for just watching some games.' _

That statement reassured the young girl as she walked onto the street courts. It wasn't like she was playing or anything, just watching. _'That won't get him mad. Hopefully…'_

Ryoma looked around the perimeter of the courts to find a place to sit and watch the games that were being played. She spotted an empty wooden bench over by the far corner of the court, but next to it gathered a cluster of boys. They seemed to be watching the match, though did she really want to go over there and maybe draw attention to herself by sitting next to them.

'_A seat is a seat. I'm not going to give up a perfectly good place to sit down because they all just want to stand.'_

So with no more hesitation Ryoma made her way over the bench and sat down. She realized then why none of them had taken the bench, they were to enthralled with the game in front of them. But the game in front of her just made her want to ring the familiar person's neck. _'Am I the only one who has their racket locked up on rest days?'_

"I WILL DYE THE COURTS IN RED!" The roar broke Ryoma out of her thoughts as a tennis ball headed right towards the familiar blonde haired boy.

"**Kevin, duck!"** Her scream alerted all the players on the court of her presents.

Kevin moved out of the way of the ball coming at his head at the last moment. As the ball bounced in, no one dared to call the score of the game because of the very pissed yellow eye girl stomping her way over to Kevin.

"**Hey, Ryoma. I was just about to call you and see if you and Ryo wanted to grab some lunch."** Kevin gave a weak laugh at the end of his statement. The teens at the other side of the court could see that he was scared of the girl, nearly two heads shorter than him.

"**Do you think that the rules don't apply to you?"**

"**No, it just that-"**

"**What? You felt like playing on a rest day. Please, tell me your excuse for breaking coach's rules."** Ryoma didn't scream or yell, but Kevin knew that he was in even more trouble now then if she was screaming.

"**Well, you know, those kids over there are from Japan and I was just trying to be friendly because they are from a high school and wanted to play an Olympian." **Kevin timidly said.

"**Kevin, leave. Now. Before I actually think about what I am doing and tell Coach B." **

"**Okay! Bye!"** Kevin ran off quickly, so that Ryoma would not think to change her mind. He left in such a hurry that he even forgot his tennis bag.

Ryoma picked up the abandoned bag from its place leaning against the fence. She turned to the players across the court from her who witnessed the whole conversation.

"Which one of you is the captain?" She questioned the group in perfect Japanese.

"I am," spoke Yukimura.

"I advice you to keep your little demon boy under control. You almost injured one of the American team's reserve players."

Upon hearing someone refer to him as a demon, Kirihara, who no longer had his eyes bloodshot, protested. "I am under control!"

"Whatever lets you sleep at night, kid." She responded, before turning around and starting to walk off the court.

"Fine, then play a game against me. I'll show you just how much control I have."

"I will-" Ryoma started her response to the challenge. She was cut off before she could deny the dare.

"Not be taking part in any exercise today." A voice was heard from behind Ryoma.

"Ryoga, I wasn't goi-"

"Oh, really. So your just holding Kevin's tennis bag and on a tennis court. Chibisuke, we've gone over this and you know the rules." Ryoga reproached.

"Kevin left it here. I was going to bring it back to him." Ryoma defended.

"I'm supposed to believe that. Kevin follows the rules and even if he didn't, you have done this before how am I supposed to believe you."

"I think I can help." Stated Yukimura intervening in the siblings' conversation.

"Your friend Kevin was here minutes earlier. He was playing a match with Kirihara. She-" he pointed at Ryoma, "didn't show up until halfway through the second game. She stopped him from getting a pretty big bruise on his head."

Ryoma shot Ryoga an "I told you so" look, while he looked at her apologetically. That was all the siblings needed to communicate between themselves and were already heading towards the exit of the courts before they both headed towards the exit.

The Rikkaidai team looked at the pair in confusion. They had no idea what those glances meant or who the two even were. "Interesting," Yanagi muttered while writing down the encounter in his ever-present notebook.

"Chance of seeing them again, 87%."

A grin spread over Kirihara's face as he thought of how much fun a game against them would be, "I like those odds." Repeating what he had said earlier that day to the group.

As Ryoma walked side-by-side with her brother the one thing that kept crossing her mind was, _'That guy was the first person to ever stand up for me.'_

**End Notes:**

**I tried really hard to get all the Rikkaidai players to say something in character in the conversation in the middle, but there was so little to actually be said. So I hope you liked the first chapter because this is saving me from boredom and trying to do stupid things with my brother. Please continue to save me from the disease called boredom and REVIEW! It is the only cure.**


	2. When Friends Are Brought Home

**Author's Notes:**

**Okay, I've been having a bad couple of days and the only thing that is making me happy is seeing all the reviews, favorites, and alerts. THANK YOU! **

**To the awesome reviewers: DaPurpleDino, RainyNightSilhouette, Yoruko Rhapsodos, Alpha14, Kitsumi-Hime, ODD CANDY, Maiden of Books, BadyGuz, xbamsod, Cheshire, CheshireAlice, and MintLeafeon.**

**At this moment I will admit I am stalking my reviewers and I would like to say Alpha 14 you have an awesome bio. I'm going to be borrowing some stuff from it, just telling you now. I also realized that spelled Tarundoru Tandoru. I will punish myself for my Sanada incompetence and say please hit me fukubuchou I deserve to be punished. Shit, that's right he's a fictional character. DAMN YOU!**

**To answer reviewer questions….**

**MintLeafeon- Thank you for just being awesome and being my first reviewer.**

**CheshireAlice- Thanks for telling me my portrayal of the characters is right.**

**Cheshire- I'm glad you have a stupid IPod because of it I got a review out of you. Kevin is only older because I wanted to put another familiar face in the Olympics (you'll see why later) and when the story continues to Japan he is not going to be going to school with Ryoma. **

**BadyGuz- She is on the American team because she is an American citizen and the mixed doubles event would be important to America in the 2012 Olympics as explained last chapter in the beginning author's note.**

**Kitsumi-Hime- Yes. **

**Yoruko Rhapsodos- Ryoga does know that Ryoma is only interested in tennis, but he was trying to get her interested in other things because of reasons that will be explained later in the story.**

**Alpha14- If you didn't read my rant at the top I will re-type that I am officially stalking you and I'm stealing quotes to Rikkaidai cheers and other things.**

**Ages:**

**Ryoga- 24**

**Kevin-24**

**Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, Niou, Marui, Jackal, Yagyuu-17**

**Kirihara-16**

**Ryoma-15**

**Japanese -**"Prince of Tennis"

**English- "Prince of Tennis"**

**Thoughts- **_'Prince of Tennis'_

**Oh, I forgot this last time, but…. **

**I DO NOT FREAKIN' OWN ANYTHING **

**I think that covers everything, so let's begin:**

* * *

><p>Olympic Arc: When Sadistic Coaches Are Met and Friends Are Brought Home<p>

Outside of the Olympic Training Facility, London, England

July 2nd, 2012

Monday 5:30 AM

"I'm sorry, but there is just not enough room for you to practice with us."

"Sir, we were promised a month training trip."

"Kid, listen. We barely have enough room for ourselves in the space we've been given and your team isn't allowed in the training center because you're not Olympians."

"We were supposed to train with the Olympians."

"Boy, Japan hasn't won a medal in Olympic tennis ever. The country is giving us shit money and they think we can train you for a month. We can barely train the people we've got with the amount of room we have in the center."

"What are we suppose to do for a month then?"

"Kid, your in England take a couple tours, see the sites. I don't care, but we don't have room for you here."

* * *

><p>4:00 AM<p>

Ryoma slipped her white Fila hat onto her head. She grabbed the set of keys off the counter and walked out of the room, locking the door as she left. Quickly moving down the steps of the building, she found herself in the lobby and heading towards the front door.

She checked her watch that glowed the numbers 4:03 in the pre-dawn darkness. _'I got 57 minutes.' _She thought before leaving her tennis bag leaning on the fence of one of the near by courts. Ryoma started to run rapidly picking up speed and losing all the thoughts that swam around in her head about the strange blue haired boy that stood up for her.

* * *

><p>5:00 AM<p>

"How was the run this morning, Chibisuke?" Ryoga questioned the barely out of breath girl walking into the dining room for breakfast.

"Fine," Was the only answer he received.

"Coach said eggs, milk, and fruit for breakfast." Ryoga told Ryoma while grabbing a plate and filling it with the said items for himself.

"Thank you." She replied getting up to meet her own breakfast requirements.

As Ryoma sat down with her plate a sleepy Kevin walked in. "Good morning, Sunshine." Said a smiling Ryoga knowing Kevin was definitely not a morning person.

"**English, please. My mind can't translate this early, Ryoga." **Kevin said looking cravingly at the coffee machine in the corner of the room.

"**No, Kevin." **Ryoga replied to Kevin unspoken question for caffeine.

"**Eggs, milk, and fruit. Coach's players eat on Coach's diet, you know the rules." **

"**How do you two work in the mornings without caffeine? Especially you, Ryoma, you get up an hour before both of us to take an extra run." **Kevin groaned bring his filled plate and glass to the table where the two siblings were sitting. Both just shrugged at his question.

A couple minutes later, an old man walks in with a smile that told the players about the pain that was going to be brought through training. **"Well, good-morning, my mixed doubles team. How are you this fine morning?" **

"**Good-morning, Coach B." **The three players echoed back.

Coach B did a once over on his players. Ryoma looked as stoic as ever and was quickly eating a mass of food that was piled onto her plate. Ryoga was smiling and while having around the same amount of food on his plate as the other three was not eating at a rushed pace. Kevin just stared at his food sleepily and looked like his was about to take a nose-dive in it.

Plates were soon emptied and left for the cleaning staff of the hotel to clean up.

"**Ryoma, can you run over to the Britain team to see about that practice match on Saturday." **Ryoma just nodded her head at her Coach's request and headed towards the Olympic Facilities.

* * *

><p>Outside of the Olympic Training Facility, London, England<p>

July 2nd, 2012

Monday 5:30 AM

The sight that greeted Ryoma was one she did not want to see this early in the morning. The door to the training center was blocked meaning her path was blocked.

The coach of the Japan team was standing outside of the doors of the facilities talking with a her savior from the day before and a group of teenage boys standing a couple yards away from them.

"What are we suppose to do for a month then?" She heard the boy question, give them coach in front of him a very threatening calm look.

The coach was obviously affected by the boy's stare because he looked like he like he someone just walked on his grave. Though the idiot man continued on with a shaky voice,"Kid, your in England take a couple tours, see the sites. I don't care, but we don't have room for you here."

"I'll take them." The sentence was out of her mouth before she could actually think through the consequence of that statement.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, but there is just not enough room for you to practice with us."<p>

Niou glared at the coach talking a little bit away with Yukimura-buchou. _'Does he not think we can hear him?' _A smirk spread across his face as he spotted the coach's water bottle next to his tennis racket case leaning on the wall.

"I am going to advice you against whatever you are planning to do, Niou." Yagyuu said knowing from the smirk on his doubles partner's face that the coach would not have a good day.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." The Trickster replied doing his best to put on an innocent face.

The Gentleman just groaned because he knew Niou was going to go along with his plan anyways. Niou just gave him a small smirk before walking over to where Yanagi was standing scribbling down data.

"Hey, Yanagi, do you still have that juice stuff that your friend from Seigaku gave you? Puri~"

Renji looked up from his notebook with closed eyes and answered, "Yes, I do. Would you like to try some?"

"Yep, could I have it, please?"

"Of course."

"Thanks. Puri~" Niou said before taking the bottle filled with the vile juice and silently heading over to the coach's water bottle. He saw Yukimura-buchou send him a look that said, "do it", while the coach's back was turned. _'Buchou's pissed.'_

Opening up and dumping the water bottle was done quickly. Niou spilled the containments of Yanagi's bottle into the Japan coach's before replacing the bottle on the wall.

"Thank you, Yanagi. Puri~" Handing the empty bottle back to the data man of Rikkaidai. The rest of the team shot Niou encouraging looks including surprisingly Sanada. _'Buchou and Fukubuchou are both pissed. This guy going to die.'_

"I'll take them." A slightly familiar voice said.

* * *

><p>"Your that kid prodigy on the American team, right? Echizen Ryoma." The coach asked the girl who might have just saved his life from Yukimura.<p>

"If you do not have the facilities to host this team America will. One of our sponsors rented us a hotel and its sports facilities for our team." Ryoma replied avoiding the actual question that was asked.

'_Thank you, Monkey King, for your stupid reasoning that we might need a whole hotel.' _She thought glad that she hadn't argued her cousin and uncle down from the unnecessary rental of the hotel the American team was using.

"That would be great." Spoke her savior from the day before. Not only him, but also his whole team seemed relieved that they weren't wasting their time in England.

"Grab your bags from where ever you're staying and meet me back here in a half hour. You will be staying in the hotel for your training. You will listen to the coaches, no exceptions." She forcefully told them the information that they would need for the next couple hours.

"Thank you for your kindness. We will see you here in a half hour. My name is Yukimura Seiichi and this is my team Rikkaidai Fuzoku."

"We will do introductions later. Please hurry up and get your things we are on a schedule here." With that Ryoma walked into the Olympic Training Facility to find the coach of the Great Britain tennis team.

* * *

><p>5:41 AM<p>

Ryoma bit her lip and stared at the phone in her hand. She had already talked to the Britain coaches and had agreed upon the training matches on Saturday. Now she was nervously deciding if she should call now or let them be surprised she brought eight unwelcome teenagers into their training camp. _'If I don't call in advance Coach will be madder.'_

"Hello, Ryoma."

"Hey, Ryoga."

"Where the hell are you? Coach is getting pissed we're behind schedule. Are those Brits giving you trouble because I'll come over there an-"

"No, Ryoga. It has nothing to do with the Great Britain team and everything to do with the Japan team."

"What do you mean, Chibisuke?"

"Remember those kids from yesterday. The ones that Kevin played."

"Yeah, I got angry because I thought it was you."

"I guess they're here for a training camp or something and were supposed to stay with the Japanese team."

"I don't get how that's a problem."

"The Japan team has no facilities, only the Olympic ones."

"But none Olympic athletes aren't allo- Oh, I can see how this became a problem."

"So we have like a hundred extra every things at the hotel, so just tell Coach that they will train with us and we will be there in thirty minutes."

"Hey! Wait, you just can't-" Ryoma shut the phone before Ryoga could deny her request.

* * *

><p>6:00 AM<p>

All the bags were collected and Rikkaidai was assembled in front of Ryoma. With out a word she turned around and headed towards the hotel.

The boys watched the girl lead them without even recognizing their presence. Every now and then her phone would go off and she would ignore the call. They all wondered if what the Japan coach said was true, _'Hmm, the kid prodigy from America. Name Echizen Ryoma. Interesting…' _Yanagi scribbled down information on what he observed on her from the last two days.

When they arrived at the hotel, the Rikkaidai boys were surprised to see it almost completely vacant. _'I guess when she said that they rented the hotel she meant the whole hotel.' _Yanagi thought as he continued to write down observations in his notebook.

"Oh, look boys, Ryoma brought home some friends just in time for Endurance Monday."

The smile on the man's face promised pain. It seemed like the team had just walked into training hell. But then again that is what they expected and that is what they wanted.

* * *

><p><strong>End Notes: <strong>

**So it has been revealed the event the Ryos are in with Kevin as their reserve. Well Ryoga's reserve because he probably couldn't pass off as a girl if Ryoma got sick. That will be explained to why Ryoma doesn't have a reserve and Ryoga does.**

**I was going to start the training scenes, but it seemed too rushed to put both the intro and the training in one chapter. Well, I would like to say this chapter took around half the time of the first because I was going to go to sleep, but I kept seeing Yukimura. He giving me the smile that said if I didn't write and post the chapter it was going to be bad. **

**So a little Niou prankster love and Yanagi is already writing down in his notebook about Ryoma. I wonder how long it will be until he figures out her secret. People, I would like to also say now that I know it would be really weird for someone to workout even more than they are required when they are probably on a 10-hour workout schedule already, but it will make sense as more clues come your way. **

**So see you soon as this seems to be the only things I can think about because of your awesome reviews. So review more and chapters will most likely appear faster.**


	3. Tales of Training

**AN:**

**Sorry, Minna. I planned to spend the day typing up the new chapter, but my dad was sick, so I spent the day eating grilled cheese and watching bad reality TV with him. Anyways, I seemed to have a streak for writing and updating at night. I would also like to recommend the movie Everybody's Fine to everyone because I saw it on TV today and it was sad, true, and awesome. **

**I've been getting questions and begging about the pairing and would officially like to say that this is a Yukimura/FemRyoma. This decision was made before the fiction was even published and before I even got to reading about Rikkaidai. If you don't like it blame on ****Starian NightZz**** because she not only got me hooked on Prince of Tennis (it is because of her I read the manga because I wanted to read ****The Ice Princess of Rikkaidai). ****She is an awesome author and when she favorited this story I might or might not have squealed. **

**I would like to say that the coach is an OC, but is going to be based off of my rowing coach from last year (He was awesome, but I was the only girl on the team meaning my coxswain ass was sore everyday from doing the guys' exercises with them). I would also like to address the Atobe being Ryoma's cousin. I've read it in a couple of stories and I thought it would be good for her to have one or two connection in Japan outside of Rikkaidai. **

**If you did not notice I changed the summary after some thought if you liked the old one better please tell me and I will change it back.**

**Ages:**

**Ryoga- 24**

**Kevin-24**

**Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, Niou, Marui, Jackal, Yagyuu -17(This meaning 17 turning 18 as the story continues. I am trying to make this as real as possible and if you would like to check July 1****st**** really is a Sunday next year. Same goes for ages below, ages above don't really matter.)**

**Kirihara-16**

**Ryoma-15**

**Japanese -**"Prince of Tennis"

**English- "Prince of Tennis"**

**Thoughts- **_'Prince of Tennis'_

**Disclaimer: I would have made Ryoma a girl, enough said. To make it clear though I do not own ****Prince of Tennis.**

**Begin:**

* * *

><p>Olympic Arc: Tales of Training Part 1<p>

Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London, England

July 2nd, 2012

Monday 6:01 AM

"Oh, look boys, Ryoma brought home some friends just in time for Endurance Monday." The man known as Coach B spoke in Japanese as he stared at the nine teenagers in front of him.

Yukimura had his mouth opened to say something, but he was cut off before the words left his mouth. "I'm going to say this once. You abide by my rules or you will be punished. You follow my instructions or you will be punished. You will speak in English to me because this is the American team. **So leave your bags where you stand and I will have the staff bring them up to your rooms. Grab your rackets and follow me."** With his speech made Coach Boyd turned around and made his way out the doors.

Kirihara looked panicked. The boy could barely pass English in school and now he was being forced to speak it for the rest of the summer. He didn't even know what the coach had said to do.

"Leave your bag, grab your racket, and follow him," Whispered Hiroshi. The Gentleman saw the way that his kouhai was struggling to translate the coach's words. He had been dubbed his nickname for a reason.

"Thank you, sempai," The seaweed hair boy said relieved that someone had told him what to do.

"Aw, Yagyuu. You shouldn't have told him. I was having fun watching him panic." Marui whined to the glasses wearing member of the group.

"It's not like you knew what he had said till I told you, Bunta," Jackal indicated to the rest of the team, now following the leader out of the lobby doors toward the outdoor tennis courts.

"Ha! You don't understand English either, Marui-sempai. You're a hypocrite, at least I admit that suck at English," Kirihara exclaimed sticking his tongue out at his sempai.

"And Japanese," Niou added in as he walked by the two arguing boys.

Akaya shouted, "Hey! That's my best subject! I always have an 'A' in that class!"

Sanada hear his players arguing, again, snapped, "Tarundoru! We are in the presence of some of the best players in the world and all you can do is argue!"

"Can you keep it down? Your pretty noisy for the one trying to end the noise," The cap-wearing girl in the front of the group requested.

Yukimura looked at Sanada and said, "She is right."

The rest of the Rikkaidai players tried to muffle their laughs at their fukubuchou being told off, not only by an Olympic player, but also by his best friend. The rest of the short walk was made in silence as the group of high schoolers observed the Olympic team in front of them.

* * *

><p>"<strong>I would like you all to introduce yourselves. Name, age, and likes should be enough. I'll start I am Coach Boyd. You can call me Coach B or Coach Boyd. I'm not that old, but I know Ryoga would use it in someway of I told you my age. I like to make teams win, that's why I took over this idiotic group of that call themselves mixed doubles players." <strong>

Kirihara and Marui understood most of what Boyd had said because introduction had always been the first lesson in class and he had spoken slowly.

"**I guess I'll go next," **The young man that looked similar to Ryoma began. **"I am Ryoga Echizen. I am 24 years old and a player on the American Mixed Doubles Team. I am not an idiot as my coach and sister might think." **There were mumbles of sarcastic "sures" coming from both mentioned. **"I like oranges and tennis." **Ryoga said with a smile before growing very serious.** "Oh, and if any of you touch my sister I will kill you." **Ryoma just rolled her eyes at her brother, while the other teens looked to have taken the threat seriously.

"**My turn, I'm Kevin Smith. I am also 24 years old and am on reserve for Ryoga here. I like tennis and dislike talking about my father, so please do not ask." **Kevin announced to the group. He gave Ryoma a shove as he realized she wasn't continuing where he left off.

"**I'm Ryoma Echizen. I'm 15 years old. I am the other player on the mixed doubles team. I like tennis." **Ryoma stated simply. The Rikkaidai players were shocked. Most assumed that she was just there because her brother was there, not because she actually played. The girl that just introduced herself to them was younger than them and already one of the top players in the world or at least would be soon.

"**I am Seiichi Yukimura. I am 17 and captain to Rikkaidai Fuzoku tennis team. I like grilled fish, gardening, and tennis, " **Yukimura spoke nicely. **"I would also like to thank you for allowing us to train with you. If not we would have wasted our summer training time." **Coach Boyd only nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"**I am Genichirou Sanada. I am 17 and vice-captain to Rikkaidai Fuzoku tennis team. I like tennis and kendo," **Sanada spoke in fluent, perfect English.

"**I am Renji Yanagi. I am 17. I like acquiring new data." **Boyd mentally noted to ask Renji about any information he needed on the players on Rikkaidai.

"**I am Hiroshi Yagyuu. I am 17. I like reading detective novels and soba." **

"**I am Masaharu Niou. I am 17. I like jazz and yakiniku and need a screwdriver, if you have one," **Niou finished, but by the looks the players were giving the Olympic team they knew should not to give him a screwdriver.

"**I am Jackal Kuwahara. I am 17. I like horseback-riding and roasted meat."**

"**I am Bunta Marui. I am 17. I like food." **Marui introduced himself quickly, stumbling on a few words, but he got through the introduction he said every year at the beginning of English class fine.

"**I am Kirih- Akaya Kirihara. I am 16. I like- ummm- video games and tennis." **Kirihara stumbled over his words and had trouble remembering certain words, but he got through it.

"**Okay, let's begin Endurance Monday." **Coach Boyd announced to the eleven players.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Start with the run jog exercise in sets of three minutes. Rikkaidai players, if you cannot carry on stop. I need to see where each of you are at in endurance."<strong>

"The run jog exercise is when you run for three minutes, then jog for three minutes, then repeat." Ryoga explained to the high schoolers. "Coach will tell us when to switch and stop, but if you feel you cannot keep running then stop. For you this is just a test to see where you are."

"**Begin!"**

With that shout the tennis players started their three-minute sprints. Jackal and the Olympic team led the pack with the Big Three and Kirihara slightly behind, while the others were at the back of the pack. They were running around the facilities, looping around the tennis courts but staying in sight and hearing distance of Coach Boyd.

"**Jog!"**

The players slowed down their speeds to a fast, but relaxing jog. The three minutes of relaxation were over quickly though.

"**Run!"**

The speed again increased. This was how the drill continued for the next forty-five minutes, the players of Rikkaidai becoming more and more spread out. Jackal kept with the Ryoma, Ryoga, and Kevin. Sanada and Yukimura stayed together, while Yanagi and Kirihara did the same slightly behind them, though Kirihara continued to try and get in front of the Three Demons. Niou and Yagyuu were together a couple meters behind them. Marui was in last, looking about to faint from the non-stop running.

"**Stop!"** The shout resounded throughout the courts, bring relief to the players. They all walked at a slow pace toward the coach. The least tired of the group was definitely Jackal and the Americans.

"**Ten minute break. Get some water and come back here." **Kirihara easily put together the words ten minutes and water and went to grab a bottle out of the cooler that everyone else was pulling drinks out of.

Rikkaidai watched as Ryoma and Kevin pulled out protein bars from their tennis bag, opened the wrapping up and took one or two bites before wrapping it back up and putting it away. They also saw Ryoga devoured an orange, peel and all.

"You have to bring food out here and take a bit every once in a while if you want to survive the practice till lunch. Ryoga is going to have another three or four oranges before lunchtime at twelve." Kevin said to the players. They all gave a small nod in understanding, while Kevin offered them each a bar or two from his stash.

"**Let's continue."**

* * *

><p>"<strong>Everyone, partner up. There is an odd number, so Renji you're with me. I would like to talk to you about your teammates." <strong>

Ryoga went straight towards his sister, but was cut off as Yukimura stood before her. "Would you be my partner, Ryoma?" He politely asked the girl.

"If you think you can keep up," She replied before making her way into the gates of the tennis court.

"I assure you, I can," Seiichi said with a smile following right behind her.

Sanada looked around with his usual partner gone and Renji with Coach B he had no one to partner with. Marui and Jackal and Niou and Yagyuu partnered together like always, not knowing if they would be facing against each other or working together as a doubles team. Genichirou's eyes searched for Kirihara. He could at least keep him in line if they were partners, but he found him talking with the blonde American boy.

'_The only person left then is…'_

Echizen Ryoga stood in front of him. "Would you like to be my partner?" It seemed that both of their regular partners had taken a liking to other people.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Pick a court for you and your partner. You will each be given one ball. Rally for as long as you can you only have one chance. Once one person misses or it goes out, sit down. Make it hard for your partner. You are suppose to be training here, so don't think you can get away with standing in one place just hitting it back and forth." <strong>Coach Boyd explained. Yanagi was next to him with pen and notebook ready to record new data.

"**Begin!"**

Balls started flying and the teammates moved to keep the rally going. Marui was at the net, while Jackal was sending the balls back from the baseline. Niou and Yagyuu were concentrating hard on each other; the rally between them seemed like a match of playing against oneself. Sanada and Ryoga were controlling the ball perfectly and making it as hard for the other as possible. It was no surprise they were the first ones out. Kevin and Kirihara were going full force against one another, their styles of tennis matched almost perfectly; the predictions of where the other would send the ball were the same.

Sanada and Ryoga were the first to be out because they both tried to challenge each other to find out who was best. Following was Marui and Jackal. Marui was still tired from the exercises before and Jackal hit a ball across the net before he could get it. Kevin and Kirihara were next as they both seemed to quickly forget that they were not playing a match, but trying to keep a rally. After that the game between Niou and Yagyuu stopped.

The only game that still continued after fifty minutes was the game between the stolen partners. Yukimura and Ryoma were continuing to hit the ball. The speed of the ball being returned back and forth across the court was immense. The team watched in fascination as neither of the players tried to control the ball as it flew into the others court. The two only seemed to care that they would not be the one to miss the ball.

"Hey, Ryoga."

"What, Kevin?" Ryoga asked as he watched the show on the courts.

"She's using her left hand."

Ryoga's eyes widened as he noticed the fact that Kevin had pointed out.

"**How long has it been since she used her dominate hand in a tennis match, Ryoga?"** Coach Boyd asked as he listened to the conversation, not taking his eyes off the match.

"**Since she won the National Jr. title in America last year." **

"**Are you going to stop this?"** The question came from Yanagi who continued to take notes as he asked.

"**No, I want to see how this turns out." **Coach B replied.

Then the shot was hit. Ryoma started to run towards the net just to drop and slid on the courts. She jumped from the position and hit the ball in the air using the momentum from the slid to hit the ball harder.

The ball, Ryoga and Kevin knew was not a way to keep the game going, but a challenge saying, if you're that good, return it. Return a shot that has never been returned.

"Drive B."

And he did. The ball was returned right after it bounced the first time and the spar of tennis continued with neither player giving in.

"**That's enough." **At the coach's words the ball did not stop being hit back and forth.

"**I said THAT IS ENOUGH!" **Ryoma and Yukimura both stopped this time as the ball flew onto Ryoma's side of the court and she easily caught it with her right hand.

"**It's lunch time, let's go." **Coach Boyd said. He led the team back towards the entrance of the hotel for lunch.

* * *

><p>12 PM<p>

The new team of twelve walked into the hotel dinning room where lunch was set up for them. There were a couple of tables that were being cleared off by the staff.

"Who else is staying here? I didn't see anyone else at the courts." Asked Kirihara to his new friend Kevin, though everyone listened for the answer.

"The rest of the American Olympic Team is staying here. Most use the Olympic facilities to train or are in the fitness facilities down stairs. You will probably see the other parts of the tennis team later today at the courts, but we have first priority on the courts because it was one of our sponsors who rented us the hotel." Kevin explained to the Rikkaidai team.

"**You all need to eat a carb and a protein. Try to get some fruits and vegetables in there to. Only water or juices, no soda or anything with caffeine." **Boyd proclaimed what they were allowed to eat, while Kevin translated for Kirihara what he had said.

With the menu set the boys and girl attacked the buffet. Ryoma was the first to fill her plate and sit down at a table, _'No one will probably sit with me.' _She thought it seemed that her brother and childhood friend had made new friends within the tennis team she brought back with her.

Ryoma was brought out of her thoughts as the chair next to her squeaked. The boy who she played, Yukimura, smiled at her as he sat down, "Hello." He said to her before carefully unwrapping his silverware from the napkin and starting to eat his food.

"Hi," She replied back.

The table was soon filled with the rest of the boys. The dining room usually filled with silence was soon bursting with sounds of conversation, laughs, and silverware hitting the plates.

'_This could be good for her.' _Ryoga thought as he watched his sister having a conversation with Yukimura. _'But if he hurts her I'll kill him.'_

"So, what do we do after lunch?" Asked Jackal to Ryoga.

"We will practice till five or six, depending on how Coach feels we're doing. Then we have the rest of the day free." Ryoga replied. The whole table had become silent listening for the answer.

"Free? Like doing whatever we want free? Puri~" Niou asked with a mysterious smirk on his face that usually meant a prank would be occurring soon.

"There are rules. You have to be at dinner here at seven. Lights out is at ten. You can't do anything that can get you hurt. Other then that you can do anything, if you can still move after practice." Kevin informed the group.

"Right now, you have till one to rest. It's like 12:30, so we usually head up to the rooms and watch TV or sleep." Ryoga added to Kevin's information.

"**And on that note let me show you where you are staying," **Coach Boyd cut in.

The team followed him into the elevator to floor number four. Once in the hallway they were all handed keys with their names on them.

"**You all have your own rooms. Meet in the lobby at one o'clock to continue practice for the day." **Coach B went back into the elevator after he said that and left.

The Rikkaidai players spread out around the floor to find their rooms. In seconds there were sounds of doors unlocking and shouts of "awesome."

After she saw that the boys found their rooms, Ryoma clicked the up-button for the elevator. Kevin and Ryoga were talking with some of the players.

"Where are you headed?" A familiar voice behind her asked.

"To my room." She replied shortly back to Yukimura.

The elevator chose that moment to arrive and all of the players piled back into the elevator with her as she pushed the button for her floor. The elevator arrived quickly and Ryoma quickly exited the compacted room. She went straight to her room, she pulled out her keycard, and opened the door to the Junior Suite. As she entered, so did everyone else.

"Why are you all in my room?" She asked the crowd of people as the spread out among her living space.

"We always hang out in here," Was the answer she received from Ryoga and Kevin from their place on the coach where they were flipping though channels.

Most of the Rikkaidai team just shrugged at the question and some just ignored her.

Ryoma just groaned and went into the separate room where her bed was to take a nap.

"Ryoma's room is very large," Yukimura observed after looking over the suite once.

"We have first priority 'cause our sponsor is the one who got the hotel. The coaches are sharing the four penthouses and the three of us get to have the three Junior Suites. You guys got superior rooms, while most of the other athletes have business class rooms." Ryoga absently said while continuing to flip through the channels.

The team hung out in Ryoma's room for the rest of the lunch break before heading down to the lobby, but not before Ryoga woke Ryoma up from her nap.

* * *

><p>The rest of the practice continued with exercises to increase their endurance and before they knew it they were being dismissed for the night at six. They all headed to their rooms to shower and change before dinner.<p>

As dinner started with a cry of "Itadakimasu" by all but two, Coach Boyd asked, "**How was the first day of training in England, everyone?" **

All he received as an answer were groans. Boyd had beaten them into the ground with endurance strengthening exercises after lunch. The best thing about them was while they increased endurance they increased other aspects too, like speed and strength.

"**Anyone going out tonight?" **He asked the group already knowing the answer.

"No," was said by the team. Endurance Monday was not a day to go out on. Their bodies hurt and they knew that they had to be down by five for breakfast the next morning. Not only that, but they knew that they were going to pass out right after dinner. They could go out and explore the city on an easier training day, like those game days that Ryoga had told them about. When they played each other and other teams for practice, he said that they usually got dismissed a few hours early. Or on Free Days, which were Sundays. The only bad thing about that day was that they weren't allowed to play tennis at all. Still, they had gotten into the American team because that rule was broken.

After dinner the Coach Boyd's Olympic Team, which now included the Rikkaidai players, went into the elevators to go to their rooms. Boyd didn't even have to check for lights out that night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong>

**The Radisson Blu Portman Hotel is a real hotel in London I had to spend some time trying to find a hotel that had a tennis court. I would like to say about Yanagi's birthday that I keep finding both June and July fourth listed. I decided on July because it would fit into the story. **

**I am sorry it took longer than last time to update. Every time I think about this story I just keep thinking about the kick ass moments there are going to be in Japan, like when Seigaku realizes that the girl losing to their captain is doing it on purpose and is an Olympic player. I think it will be epic especially because you will see the transformation of Ryoma from silent and cocky to team mom. Also when you see what happened to her you'll be like OMG that makes a lot of sense and just keep looking for characters, moves, and catch phrases that are not being put in because there are reasons. **


	4. Worthless

**AN: Seigaku WILL appear just not until after the Olympic Arc. **

**Ages:**

**Ryoga- 24**

**Kevin-24**

**Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, Niou, Marui, Jackal, Yagyuu -17**

**Kirihara-16**

**Ryoma-15**

**Japanese -**"Prince of Tennis"

**English- "Prince of Tennis"**

**Thoughts- **_'Prince of Tennis'_

**Disclaimer: I would have made Ryoma a girl, enough said. To make it clear though I do not own ****Prince of Tennis.**

**Begin:**

Olympic Arc: Worthless

Friday, July 13, 2012

12:39 AM

"_-think about the children?"_

"_The boy has great potential, but the other is useless."_

"_Really? I heard she won some title-"_

"_She's a girl with Nanjirou's talent. It's inevitable that she is going to win at first, but that is all she is a girl with talent in the end she's not worth the Samurai name."_

_Useless… Not worth…. Not worth…_

"_It would have been better if he had two sons. Ryoga will only carry on his name now. You can't expect that girl to be able to play tennis. She's small and weak."_

_Small… Weak… Not play… tennis_

"_I heard that they died on their way to pick her up from a tournament."_

"_It's her fault then. Her parents were out on the road that day because of her. She killed them."_

_Her fault… She killed… them_

_Not worth… Not worth… My name_

_So small… So weak… I cannot play tennis_

_My fault… It is all my fault… I killed them_

_Losing… always losing_

_I am not good enough to be a Samurai._

"_Mada Mada Dane"_

Ryoma woke with a start. She did not scream or cry. The dream she had had was the same as it always been. Less frequently it appeared than it use to because over the past four years she had already given into what the dream had told her. She was worthless because she was a girl. She did not deserve her father's legacy because she was small and weak. The final thing was something she admitted to herself before the dream started. Echizen Ryoma killed her parents.

The clock shone the numbers 1:37. It was early. She knew from experience she could not go back to sleep. _'Train. Train harder, if you don't want to be worthless.'_ Her brain called for her, but this is how it started last time and she didn't like how it ended. If it ended like that again she would never be allowed to play tennis again.

'_They won't know. They will think I just went out for my run at the regular time. Just this time.' _Her thoughts reasoned. She opened the closet and pulled out the closest pair of white shirt and shorts. Ryoma threw them on and laced up her running shoes. Grabbing her hat, keycard, and tennis bag she was out the door in seconds.

There was no one in the lobby because they did not need a manger in the middle of the night for just the American Team. She exited the building feeling the blistering winds of the London summer weather whipping around her body. It was hours before dawn still, but right now she needed this run.

The days till the first round of the competition were moving quickly. At the end of each practice, though it didn't matter if it was hard or easy, she did not feel satisfied. Her muscles ached to be pushed more, her brain yelled at her that she was not worthy of the position she was given, her body shivered for more. This was how it started four years ago, but now if she didn't keep this in check her whole life would be in ruins around her.

"_Okay, Hime. Are you ready?"_

"_Hai, Oyaji!" _

_The ball was served underhanded and the little girl on the other side of the court hit it back. She was barely the height of the net and she only got it over by an inch, but the smile on her face for being able to do it was radiant. _

"_I did it, Oyaji!"_

"_Of course you did. I won't expect anything else from my little girl."_

Ryoma pushed the memory to the back of her mind. She wasn't a child anymore and her father was never going to be on the other side of the net serving balls to her ever again. Her chest hurt when she thought of that, but that was quickly pushed back like the memory.

She vaguely remembers turning down another road because she hit a dead end. Her legs and lungs burned in exertion as she continued to run. The familiar feeling excited her and Ryoma continued to push her body even more.

"_Hime, come here and meet your aniki Ryoga." Ryoma entered the house and saw a kid that looked around fourteen and had the exact same hair color and eyes as her. _

"_Nice to meet you, Chibisuke."_

"_It's nice to meet you, Aniki, but before you can be my brother you have to do one thing."_

"_Oh, what's that?"_

"_You have to say the Samurai catchphrase."_

"_What's the Samurai catchphrase then, Chibisuke?"_

"_Mada Mada Dane, Ryoga."_

"_Well then, Mada Mada Dane, Ryoma."_

Ryoma felt drops of water hitting her skin. She could not tell if it was the rain or her tears and did not stop to try and figure it out. Where had all the good memories gone? There were none without her mother and father. They had brought her Ryoga, taught her how to play tennis and cook, they had brought so much happiness to her life and how did she repay them? She got them killed because she had to enter a useless tournament.

"_You can't keep doing this to yourself, Ryoma!"_

"_I am perfectly fine! I can do whatever I want to MY body!"_

"_You're pushing yourself to far! You will overexert your muscles!"_

"_Just stay out of my life!"_

There was so much sadness that came after the accident. So many hours filled with training, with rapidly finishing homeschooling work for the day, and with her brother telling her to take breaks. Ryoma wished she had listened, she still wishes that she will listen to her brother's advice.

"_She will be given six months treatment in a rehabilitation facility."_

"_Will she ever be able to play tennis, again?"_

"_Sir, your sister suffered from a psychological breakdown because of tennis. Are you sure that she should even touch a racket, again?"_

"_Ma'am, for my family tennis is not a sport, it's life. It will do a lot more damage to her if you take tennis away from her completely."_

"_After her rehabilitation, we will see what kind of mental state she is in."_

"_Thank you."_

Her watch started to blare a beeping noise making her snap out of her trance and reluctantly stop running. Ryoma knew what the sound meant. It was 4:30 and if she didn't return now she was going to be late, but the normal alarm was useless. She was miles from where she would normally be and had no idea where she was. She could only think one thing, _'Shit.'_

5:20 AM

Ryoga kept looking at the door to the dining room and checking his watch. The plate of food forgotten on the table.

"She'll show up soon, Ryoga." Kevin said to best friend trying to calm some of his worry.

"What if she got kidnapped? Or lost? Or hurt?"

"Ryoga, listen to yourself? Ryoma kidnapped? She would kick a kidnapper's ass and you know she'll just take a cab back if she's lost and have you ever known that idiot to give up if she's hurt. Ryoma's fine, don't worry." Ryoga just nodded and stared out the window where the rain was coming down hard.

The rest of team wondered where Ryoma was. She had been the person to beat since the start. Everyday she would perform perfectly in any area speed, endurance, aim it didn't matter. The only ones who could keep up with her were the other Olympians and Yukimura, but none could overcome her. Others could keep up with her in certain exercise like Jackal with endurance and Yanagi in aim.

The Rikkaidai regulars would not say it, but being beat by a five-foot girl hurt their prides. On days when they went to the weight room they were happy to know that that was one thing that they could beat her at because no matter how good she was, she was still a petite girl and that limited her lifting strength.

Today was one of the two game days of the week and they were all looking forward to another match between Yukimura and Ryoma. Last week it ended 6-4 in Ryoma's favor, but anyone could tell she wasn't happy about her best moves being returned. Though with the weather outside and without the ability to use the Olympic indoor courts it looked like they were going to have to wait till tomorrow for the match.

After two annoying business men, a flower shop owner, and finally a taxi, a soaked Ryoma walked into the dining room with her tennis bag over her shoulder and hat tilted over her eyes to try and hide the dark rings around her eyes. Kevin who gave a small laugh at her state of appearance threw a towel at her to dry off with. Ryoga went up to her gave her a once over checking for any injuries and gave a slight nod before going back to his seat at the table.

Ryoma patted herself down with the towel before making her way over to the buffet line to get some food before practice. She filled her plate up and made her way over to the table filled with boys. There was a seat open in between Kirihara and Niou, but as she watched the boys talk and laugh she felt like an outsider looking in. The green-haired girl made her way over to one of the empty tables on the other side of the room to eat her food in silence.

She kept her head down with her cap overshadowing her eyes, while she ate. If Ryoga, Kevin, or Coach Boyd saw her eyes they would know what had happened and stop her from practicing today, but right now she needed it. The feeling of her muscles burning, her adrenaline pumping, the feeling that she was on her way to becoming something more than just worthless. The feeling that she deserved to be there just as much as Ryoga and Kevin did. A tap on her back pulled her out of her reverie.

She looked up at the person, "What do you want, Yukimura?" She growled when she realized it was he. On most days the pair would get along great, but this morning she had been reminded of her own defeats to many times by memories. Ryoma did not need to have the person, who she was almost positive was the cause of reawaking her dormant dreams, try to make conversation with her.

"I was just wondering why you are not sitting with the rest of us?" Yukimura responded with a smile.

"That's none of your business." Ryoma snarled at him. Her knuckles going white as her gripe on the fork in her hand tightened.

"You should sit with us, though. We are all a team now."

Those words echoed in her ears. These boys had not trained or worked to get here. They were merely invited on a whim, a whim that was coming to bit her in the ass. Her chair clattered to the ground and the demigod jumped back in surprise. "You are not a part of this team." Each word said with malice dripping off of them.

Then Yukimura and the rest of the boys in the room saw what she had been trying to hide beneath her hat. Large circles of black, easily identified by Yanagi from lack of sleep, surrounded Ryoma's golden eyes.

Ryoga hesitantly walked over to his sister, trying to wish it was not real. "How long was your run this morning, Ryoma?" The use of her name sent chills down the girl's spine.

"One hour as usual." She lied easily to her brother.

"I doubt that. Try again." Ryoga said his anger starting to become apparent.

"I woke up at around two." That was the only answer he needed before he was pulling Ryoma towards the elevator leaving a room full of stunned teenagers. Kevin just shook his head before walk off to find Coach Boyd to tell him what happened. He would not be happy about her relapsing so close to the start of the games.

6:53 AM

After an hour of arguing and tracking down Coach, the Rikkaidai players were sent to the work out room with instructions to follow a workout schedule that Yanagi and Boyd had put together. The only people remaining were Boyd, Ryoga, Kevin, and Yukimura. Ryoma had been locked inside her bedroom to take a nap or be forced off the team completely. The men were meeting inside of Ryoma's living room to make sure she did not try and escape.

Ryoga was sitting on the couch with his head buried in his hands. Kevin was sitting next to his friend with a frown. Boyd was sitting in a chair across from the two 24 year-olds looking disappointed and angry. Yukimura was sitting in the chair next to Boyd curious to why he was there in the first place.

"**Do you think that she is going to be okay after this?"** Coach Boyd was the first to break the silence to ask the question to Ryoga.

"**Maybe, I'm not sure. Last time this happened it was because she kept losing to me. She didn't stop until she was hospitalized." **

'_Hospitalized?' _Seiichi thought.

"**She can't keep doing this to herself every time someone other than us can keep up with her,"** Kevin said running his hand threw his hair.

"**Ryoma needs to learn that tennis isn't the center of the world. That even if she's not the best in tennis there is still other things to be good at." **Boyd added in.

"**I've tried. For four years, I tried. The therapists said she needed other hobbies, friends, things to do not relating to tennis, but I couldn't find anything that could keep her interest any longer than a few days."** Ryoga stated the worry evident in his voice.

'_Tennis has driven Ryoma insane.' _Yukimura thought as he listened to the conversation around him. _'It didn't use to be like this. In the beginning it wasn't about winning or losing, the drive to win wasn't what kept us coming back to pick up a racket. It was… fun. Yes, that is why we started. It was fun.' _

For the first time in the conversation Yukimura spoke, **"You don't need her to be interested in other things. You just need to show her that tennis isn't about the end score it's about fun."**

The three older men looked at him like he grew a second head, but as the sentence processed in their minds, they realized the truth in the statement. They realized why they didn't get mad anymore after losing a close match or when their best shots were returned. It was because tennis was fun and all Ryoma needed was to remember that it was fun.

Kevin was the first one though to see the fault in this plan, **"How do we do that?"**

All eyes turned to Yukimura, **"I have no idea."**

Body sighed and lifted himself out of the chair. **"Kevin, Yukimura, come with me to practice with everyone else. Ryoga, take care of her. I need her to be able to play. You both have till Monday off."**

Kevin and Yukimura followed Boyd towards the door, when Ryoga called out for Yukimura.

"Yes?" He questioned the older boy.

"How did you know?"

Seiichi tilted his head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"You knew something was wrong when she walked in, didn't you?"

"Of course not, she just looked lonely eating breakfast alone." Yukimura really didn't know that something was wrong with her. There was just this feeling, like the first afternoon at the hotel when she looked so sad when she thought she was going to eat alone. He didn't see anything wrong with her, but he just didn't want to see her sad to be left out.

Yukimura left and Ryoma laid down on the couch, neither knowing that Ryoma was listening to the whole conversation.

**AN: So Ryoma's secret has mostly been revealed. Those people that were gossiping at the Echizen funeral were real assholes weren't they. The Olympic Arc is focusing on Ryoma's problems and when the Japan arcs come they will be focused more on the Rikkaidai players' problems. **

**Yukimura doesn't want Ryoma to be sad! Yep, think that is it. **

**Review please!**


	5. I Belong

**AN: Coming up to the second to last chapter of the Olympic Arc.**

**Japanese -**"Prince of Tennis"

**English- "Prince of Tennis"**

**Thoughts- **_'Prince of Tennis'_

**Disclaimer: I would have made Ryoma a girl, enough said. To make it clear though I do not own ****Prince of Tennis.**

**Begin:**

Olympic Arc: I Belong

Saturday, July 14, 2012

4:53 PM

Walking down the streets of London was supposed to be enjoyable. The shopping, sightseeing, and even just being with the rest of his team was supposed to make him have fun. Fun was why Yukimura was lost in his thoughts and not enjoying the early release from practice with his team.

Over the past two days, not one idea could be thought of to make Ryoma believe that tennis was meant to be about more than winning. Questioning glance had been passed between Yukimura, Kevin, and Ryoga with no positive result on anyone's part. But it had to be there. There had to be a way to bring back the feeling of pleasure of when you first picked up a racket.

The problem was made more complicated by the fact that Yukimura did not think of tennis as fun. Tennis was a means to winning. Winning was enjoyable, pleasurable, and all together fun. Tennis being fun though, now that concept stumped him. He could not allow it to. This was not about him, this was about Ryoma; Yukimura had no idea why that made the urgency of the situation direr, but it did.

Around him he could hear the shout of his teammate echoing throughout the shopping area. Even on a crowded Saturday summer afternoon he could hear the screams of Marui to Jackal to follow him to another food store, the mischievous chuckle of Niou as he found the supplies he needed for his next prank, the scribbles of Renji writing down more data, and Sanada's "Tarundoru" being shouted to try and control Rikkaidai. As captain he listened to these voices every day and could easily pick out their voices even in the crowded streets that they occupied today.

Seiichi turned to his fukubuchou who was trying to maintain control of Rikkaidai, while staying in his position next to him. "Genichirou, why don't you go with the others and enjoy yourself? I'll be fine by myself."

"Are you sure?" Sanada asked his blue-haired captain. His replied was given in the form of a gentle nod and smile. Sanada hesitated, but walked away to go look for souvenirs for his nephew.

Seiichi continued to walk trying again to think of some way to convince someone tennis was fun when he didn't even believe it himself. As he continued to one of the less populated streets, he heard a familiar sound. Tennis balls hitting against rackets. The sound relaxed him immediately, the relief that he was near familiar territory filled him. Even if the tennis court was unfamiliar, Yukimura knew where he belonged when he was on a tennis court and what he was expected to do. It wasn't like that in the world outside of tennis. There were problems there that couldn't be solved by hitting the ball harder or running faster. Problems like the ones that Ryoma had, the ones he didn't even know the whole story about but had volunteered to help fix.

He looked up at the court. Numerous small bodies covered the green. On one side of the net a middle-aged woman stood with a basket of balls and kids with no racket spread out around her. The other side had kids in a line holding rackets waiting their turn to try and hit the ball.

'_Jail,' _was the name his brain supplied him with. He remembered playing this game. Back when he was small before there were tournaments and challenges waiting for him, when there was just he and the desire not to get out of the game. A smile broke out on his face as he continued to watch the young players play the game for a few rounds before they were called to pick up balls.

"**Excuse me. Do you need some help?"** The woman, who was serving the balls from before, asked him through the fencing.

"**Yes, I was wondering if you would mind having some help during one of your sessions?"**

Monday, July 16, 2012

5:00 AM

Three days of being locked in a room and followed around by her older brother drove her insane. The only thing she didn't want to do was do nothing and that is what she had been doing for the past three days. She could barely keep her eyes open and her mind kept screaming at her that she needed to train. The dreams had returned every time she closed her eyes, so sleep was limited. Ryoma barely saw anyone else beside Ryoga for the past three days, she saw glances of the Rikkai players when they came to eat and rest. During those times she could feel their curious stares on her and their shock when they saw the dark circle around her eyes had expanded.

Ryoga said that she could go to practice today, but he did not permit her to take her regular morning run. Ryoma took what she was given; she needed to get back to training, so that she could win. She needed to win, if not just to feel like something was okay for once, even if that sensation only lasted her a minute.

At the moment she sat with her Fila cap pulled down in the dining room with Yukimura on her right and Ryoga on her left. Breakfast was an abnormally quiet affair. The team all stood up together and walked towards the tennis courts ready to start Endurance Monday.

8:30 AM

Throughout the practice Ryoga and Yukimura continued to exchange worried glance to each other after brief looks at Ryoma. It was obvious she didn't get any sleep.

"**Alright, everyone come on in!" **Coach Boyd announced ending the tennis players' running.

"**Lead the way, kid," **Boyd said gesturing to Yukimura. Everyone followed leaving Boyd alone at the hotel. The team as a whole was confused, but followed as Seiichi lead the group though the streets. They stop in front of a tennis club. Nothing that important looking about it, just a white square building with fenced off tennis courts behind it. A brown-haired, medium height woman stood outside waiting for them by the looks of it.

She waved the group over to her. **"Hello, everyone," **She greeted.

"**Yukimura, here, told me your problem." **The team looked over to Yukimura, only receiving a small smile in return. **"It seems that you don't even know the problem that you have. It happens to everyone, but for some of you it can be dangerous." **The woman's eyes drifted over to the girl of the group for a second as she realized she was the one Yukimura talked about.

"**How many of you win a lot in tennis?" **She questioned the group. All the hands of the teenagers and two young men shot up. They didn't even know why they raised their hands, instead of saying something, it just felt like the right thing to do. **"Okay, now, how many of you like winning?" **Again all the hands were up in the air. **"Good, all of you. So, answer me this. Is tennis fun?" **None of the hands rose this time. They all were pondering the question. Was tennis fun? When did they stop being certain that it was fun? When had winning become so definite? Some also wondered if Yukimura had lost his mind.

"**So, this is what we are going to do today. I am going to show you how tennis can be fun. I am Lisa Kempton. Please call me Lisa. Let's have fun today." **Lisa smiled at all of them before leading the way around the building and into the courts. A group of children were already there. Each trying to continue to bounce the neon tennis balls on the strings of their rackets.

"**Hey, guys. I want to introduce you to some tennis players who are going to help out today." **The kids' attention immediately turned to the new visitors to the courts. They were waiting for something and Yukimura was the first to do it.

"**Yukimura," **He introduced himself in the one word.

"**Sanada."**

"**Yanagi."**

"**Niou."**

"**Marui."**

"**Yagyuu."**

"**Kirihara."**

"**Jackal."**

"**Ryoga."**

"**Kevin."**

"**Ryoma."**

Some of the introducers were more enthusiastic than others, but there was only one thing that the kids thought when they heard their names.

"**You have weird names." **An eight year-old boy stated simply. The others nodded their agreement.

"**Everyone, find a big kid partner. Some of you can double up because there are more of you then them."** The kids tried to sprint for the most fun looking of the players, mainly Marui and Ryoga. They were both trampled with kids as soon as the sentence ended.

There were eleven players on the Olympic team and fifteen little kids. Ryoga and Marui ended up with two kids, one boy and one girl each. Both had their easygoing attitudes that made the kids both love them and listen to them.

Kirihara talked strategy with a little boy, the boy jumped with joy about having the 'coolest, most awesome tennis player in the world' as a partner. Akaya had a great time gloating about himself and acting as though he was the same age as the kid he was supposed to take care of.

Kevin looked confused as he tried to talk with his partner, a quiet little girl. He was a Spartan player; he didn't know how to talk with a little girl. Though, he learned once he put a tennis racket in her hands she was like Kawamura Takashi, no longer meek, but strong and loud.

Yanagi had more trouble than the others. The boy was overloaded with facts the second Yanagi began to speak. Within second he decided his partner was boring and started to try and bounce a ball on his racket once again. After that he demanded to be taught a 'cool' move.

Jackal chased his little girl around the courts. In his head he knew he would somehow be stuck with a mini Akaya. He was never good at the babysitting job he was given most of the time.

Niou and Yagyuu had teamed up together with their partners, who were twin brothers. Niou lectured on the importance of pranks in society, while simultaneously Yagyuu told them the importance of being gentlemen. The brothers felt that their heads were spinning when they listened to both, so they ended up ignoring Yagyuu and listening to how to play pranks.

Sanada had no idea what to do. His child would barely listen to him. He knew that he could not slap the boy like he did the other players, but the child's mouth went a mile-per-minute and would not be quiet. As his rival did, he put his fingers to the bridge of his noise and thanked kami he was not captain.

Yukimura had a mini him. There were some differences though, like the fact she was a girl. She was an observer and he knew right away that she would be perfect to pass down his style of tennis to. If only she lived in Japan. Maybe he could do something about that, but that was something to do at a different time. His obstacle at the moment was to teach her proper ball hitting technique.

Ryoma just leaned against the fence of the court. They were wasting precious practice time on this. No kid had come up to her, which was expected seeing as her appearance screamed "stay away!" Then, Ryoma saw her. In the corner of the court, she griped her tennis racket as if it was a lifeline. Somewhere in her mind, Ryoma noticed the others separating to play and teach their kids.

She walked towards the corner. The little blonde girl looked the same as Ryoma did after her parents' funeral. **"Hey, what's wrong?" **Ryoma questioned softly. She went down onto her knees so that she was about even with the small child.

"**I suck at tennis," **The little girl sobbed.

Ryoma smiled a little, it was like that night all over again, just her in the place of the little girl and Ryoga in her place. **"Now, why do you say that?"**

"**Because I'm small and weak. I can't even hit the ball over the net." **The words clicked in Ryoma's head. They were the words that she repeated to herself a thousand times. She finally saw what everyone else did. They didn't see the strong person she tried to be, they saw her like this broken, crying, and drowning in self-doubt.

"**I doubt that. How about you come with me and I promise to show you a way to always hit it over the net?" **

The kid's eyes widened and a smile crept up her face, **"Really?"** Her face showed childish glee about how she was going to be able to be good at tennis.

"**Yep, but you got to promise me something."**

"**What? What? I promise." **Ryoma laughed as the girl jumped up and down in front of her. The child's mood had done a 180.

"**That you will never back down from something you want because someone else tells you to."**

The little girl realized when she looked into Ryoma's eyes that this was a serious promise. She looked back at the older girl and with determination in her eyes she said, **"I promise, but only if you do too." **She held out her hand for a shake.

Ryoma took the girl's hand in her and promised.

"**I'm Mary. What's your name?"**

"**I'm Ryoma. It's nice to met you, Mary."**

That's how the day started. Ryoma corrected Mary's grip, stance, forehands, backhands, and everything else that needed improvement. Ryoma felt happy for the first time in a long time. She had fun with tennis because of this one little blonde girl named Mary.

As the day came to an end with everyone picking up balls, Ryoma wore a small smile on her face. She had her racket out, she balance the balls, while Mary continued to pick up and add more to the neon pyramid on top of her red racket. The sun set in the background of the tennis court and ended the best day Ryoma had had since her parents died.

"**Ryoma, you promise you'll visit me, right?" **Mary asked, giving the older girl her best impression of a puppy dog. It worked.

"**Of course, I'll see you on my day off next Sunday. I promise."**

"**But that's too long away," **She frowned.

"**But on Sunday we can spend the whole day together again and you can show me around the city." **Ryoma bargained, she didn't want her to start crying.

Mary huffed in defeat, **"Fine."**

Ryoma waved as she walked away with her happy team. Her team. They were definitely a part of the team. She felt bad that a few days ago she yelled at Yukimura that they weren't. She was unhappy that they gotten there by chance, but she had seen them play, she should have known that they worked their asses' off. They opened their arms to her. They didn't underestimate her or pass her off as a fluke. They were her team and she wouldn't let them go.

Ryoma realized as she walked that today she wasn't the teacher, Mary was. She taught her that sometimes we doubt ourselves, but there would always be someone who cares enough to help. Ryoma looked up at her brother and then to Yukimura. Maybe having fun wasn't such a bad thing.

She joined into the conversation about who had the best student. It was the first time she had joined into a conversation with the whole team. Everyone went silent as she simply said, "I barely taught her anything, it's what she taught me that made her the best." Everyone stared at her for a second before she started to laugh. At first just a chuckle, then it morphed into a full-blown laugh.

Ryoga smiled down at his sister happy to hear a laugh come from her, it was such a long time since her heard that sound. He mouthed a quick 'thank you' to Yukimura, before stating how his two children beat Marui's in a doubles match starting an argument between the two.

Ryoma smile and laughed for the first time in what seemed like forever. It felt like a weight was lift off her shoulders and all because of a little girl who reminded her of herself.

"_Aniki, I'm small and weak. I'm never going to make mommy and daddy proud."_

"_Ryoma, I promise you that as long as you try your hardest they will always be proud of you."_

Ryoma wished she had listened to those words back them, but right now she was not going to let the past rule her anymore. She was Echizen Ryoma. She played for herself and for the other people like herself that were underestimated and told they were worthless. She was Echizen Ryoma and she was a Samurai. No one would ever take that away from her again.

**AN: I hope you guys liked Mary. I thought that Ryoma needed someone little to remind her of why she felt that way she did. If anyone has read the new New Prince of Tennis chapter, it has RYOGA in it. I'm a hundred percent sure about it. See ya next time. Please, review!**


	6. Never Regret What Could Have Been

**AN: The last chapter of the Olympic Arc….**

**Japanese -**"Prince of Tennis"

**English- "Prince of Tennis"**

**Thoughts- **_'Prince of Tennis'_

**Disclaimer: I would have made Ryoma a girl, enough said. To make it clear though I do not own ****Prince of Tennis.**

**Begin:**

Olympic Arc: Never Regret What Could Have Been

Mary gripped Ryoma's hand tightly as the two walked through the tunnel. Ryoga stood on the other side of Ryoma, fierce determination seen in his eyes. The trio walked towards the light. This was the end. This was what they had been training for, giving up months of their lives for this final moment.

It was August 5th.

It was 6:30 PM.

It was the final match of the Olympic Mixed Doubles.

The trio walked onto the Wimbledon Centre Court. Mary scurried to sit on the bench on one side, she acted a their ball retriever for the match. Ryoma and Ryoga gave each other a short nod before they proceeded towards the net. They stood across from the Great Britain pair. They knew they could beat them. They had succeeded in doing it many times before in practice. They exchanged handshakes and walked to their position. It was time to win.

Atobe sat in the stands looking down at the game that had just begun. He knew the results of the game. He was pretty sure everyone did. His cousins would not lose.

"Ah, Keigo-san, I didn't know you would be here." Atobe looked up to see the whole Rikkai tennis team getting seated next to him.

"Ore-sama would not miss the chance to see Ore-sama's family show the world their prowess," He answered easily, sifting his eyes back to the match just in time to see the first game won by the American team.

"Family? Who do you mean, Keigo-san?" Yukimura asked the heir.

"The Echizen sibling. Ore-sama's mother was their mother's sister." Yukimura contemplated this information. Neither of the siblings told him that they were related to Atobe and what did he mean by "was."

"What do you mean by 'was,' Atobe-san?" Asked Marui who like the rest of the team had been eavesdropping.

Atobe's face darkened before he said, "Echizen Nanjirou and Rinko died four years ago in a car accident."

The Rikkaidai team just sat there shocked. They knew something was wrong with Ryoma and she had just gotten over it, but her parents were dead. The conversation stayed silent after that as the game continued on with the score at 3-2 America's lead.

6-3

The final score of the final match of the first mixed doubles matches in 88 years came to a close with the Echizen siblings winning a gold medal for America. They stood receiving the medals as cameras flashed around them. They had done it after months of practice, of blood, and of sweat they had done it. They had completed what they had set out to do, which was win.

Mary gripped Ryoma's hand tightly as the two walked through the tunnel. The trio walked out of the Wimbledon courts and toward the tents. They had to get drug tested to make sure they hadn't done any illegal drugs and then they could leave to celebrate with their team.

Atobe tapped his foot while he waited at the large table for his cousins to arrive. They had asked his to reserve a table for thirteen for some odd reason, but it didn't matter to him, it wasn't like money was a problem. He looked for the blue and red shirts that his cousins wore during the game because they had been told to wear their country's colors.

He looked down at his watch again it was 8:07 and they were 7 minutes late. When he heard the chime of the bells on the door he looked back up. There stood the Olympic medalists talking with the Rikkaidai team. He did a quick head count. There were twelve people there. The 8 from Rikkai, the 3 from the American team, and their coach all walked toward his table.

'_I have to up Hyotei training, if they have been training with them all summer.' _He thought standing up to greet his guests.

Dinner went well with talk about plans for the future. Ryoga talked about continuing his education by attending law school, so he could take over his mother and aunt's firm when he was older. Ryoma talked vaguely about having to finish her final year of high school. Kirihara and Atobe fought about who would win the National tournament this year. They would have continued if Yukimura had not stepped in to play peacemaker or Sanada had not threatened to punch them. Coach Boyd talked about how the siblings should have not left the Britain team take more than 2 games, but they could see the pride in his eyes. The dinner was a goodbye, though they never said it. Sadness surrounded the table even as the laughed throughout the night.

Atobe looked at the faces of those around him. He felt like an outsider looking in. How could only one month together bring people this close together? He looked toward his baby cousin; she smiled and laughed along with the others. Maybe here he felt like an outsider, but as long as she wasn't it was fine with him.

The American trio held their boarding passes as they stood in line for security. The Rikkaidai team right behind them, though they held passes for a different flight. Check-in that morning was a blur of duffel bags and forgotten clothes. The day that they knew would come had arrived. How they wished they would not have to separate, but life continued and they could not be the American Olympic team forever.

Water and land separated the two parts of the team and they knew that they would grow apart. Some would continue tennis; others would make their way in the world that problems could not be solved by hitting a ball. They would create their own lives and leave this summer behind as just a memory. This was the end.

The two groups separated as they passed through security. The flights to America were in a separate wing than the one to Japan. Hugs were given and promises were made to not lose touch. Keeping connected was easier nowadays with Facebook, texting, video chat, and more. They would try to keep the team together and not let the memory end of the undefeatable teams that merged together.

As the groups spilt, Ryoma looked over her shoulder and met Seiichi's eyes. They held sadness for what could have been. If they had been two different people, if she had not let the past haunt her, if he actually left someone in, if they could have just been normal. There could be no regret, if nothing was there to start, but there was something that made them want to draw the other close. To want run back to them, pull them into a hug, and never let go. But they were Yukimura Seiichi and Echizen Ryoma and at the moment they had missed their chance.

Ryoga wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders and guided her towards their gate. They would be taking the almost 12 hour flight from London to Los Angeles then an hour car ride to their California house. It was time to rejoin the real world. Kevin waved goodbye to them to. He headed towards the gate for the plane to New York City where he planned to finish college and then continue playing tennis.

Around 14 hours later the Echizen sibling pulled into their childhood home. Everything looked the same in the three-story beachfront house. From the orange tree in the backyard to the tennis courts to the master bedroom, the maids had kept the house cleaned during the months the sibling had been away.

Two weeks later the Ryoma could be seen napping under the orange tree after a hard practice with an old friend of her dad. Ryoga could be found in the kitchen going through the mail. _'Trash…Trash…Bill….Trash…Fan-mail...School requests for Ryoma…. Tras- Wait, Admissions office of the University of Tokyo.' _A smile spread on Ryoga's face as he opened the letter.

_Dear Echizen Ryoga, _

_ You have been accepted to attend the Graduate School for Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo…._

"Hey, Chibisuke!"

"What, Ryoga?"

"Have you decide if you wanted to go to school or do a home school program this year again?"

"I don't care. You decide, you're the one in charge," She said slowly stretching herself out from her nap.

"Well, I just got accepted to this school that's really close to Arisu-obasan's firm."

"Ryoga, her firm is in Japan."

"Exactly." Ryoma's eyes widened and her normal smirk found it place on her face.

"Tezuka, good-luck in the finals. I heard you are going against a small girl." Said a closed-eye, smiling tensai.

"I will not let my guard down. Not matter what gender or size." The stoic buchou replied.

The two walked towards the courts where a caped girl stood waiting.

"Mada Mada Dane."

6-4

Game-Set-Match

"Oh and if you are going to try to claim Samurai Nanjirou's techniques as your own at least make sure your not doing your body harm or that it cannot be broken with something as simple as a powerful offensive move. Get your arm checked out soon or you'll never be able to play tennis again." The irked girl said before going to claim her prize. How dare that kid claim her father's move as his own?

Samurai Zone is one of the moves that are too complicated to figure out without a teacher. That is why it is a family move, a samurai move and that boy claimed it as his own. Japan was looking less and less appealing with its lack of competition and move thieves. She probably could have ended the game faster if she had been using her left hand, but her opponent wasn't worth it.

She felt a vibrating in her pocket and pulled out her phone.

_Hi _was the simply message that was sent to her. That was all it took to remind her why she agreed to live here for the year.

**AN: So that ends Olympic Arc. I'm sorry I didn't update as per usual timing, but my father of age 49 passed away on July 1****st****. The asshole never went to a freakin' doctor and had a massive heart attack. Please make my days a little better and review. **


	7. Stop Stopping the Game

**AN: The start of a new arc and I would like to lay down the skills of everyone just so we are on the same page. Sanada and Tezuka were always equal to each other as seen through their match in POT. Seiichi in a whole 'nother level as seen in Sanada and Seiichi's match in TNPOT. Ryoma slightly better than Seiichi, but he is catching up quickly. So the equations for this are Sanada=Tezuka SanadaYukimura TezukaYukimura Yukimura Ryoma Sanada/TezukaYukimuraRyoma. That is pre-Olympic camp, now it's Sanada is most likely better than Tezuka and Ryoma and Yukimura are relying on fate to decide their matches. **

**And thank you to all the reviewers who gave me their condolences. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Prince of Tennis.**

**Begin:**

New Territory Arc: Stop Stopping the Game

Summer practice for Seigaku was for those who did not go on vacation during the summer. Different members of the team came in and out of the camp at times when they were able to. Though it was understood that starting regulars had to be at the camp for at least the month before school started. August.

Unlike Rikkaidai, Seigaku had a lax training schedule over the summer to encourage the less able members to join. They practiced from nine to three, breaking at twelve for a half hour lunch, on Mondays through Fridays. While the regulars had a slightly more intense training regime, the times were no different. So while Seigaku spent a quarter of their time training and other time goofing around, Rikkaidai was getting an early lead with practice from six to six, healthy meals shoved down their throats, and one of the best tennis trainers in the world for a month in London, before continuing this same regiment in Japan.

No one on Seigaku knew that. They had no determination to succeed at the moment. They just dreamed to hold the National's flag at the end of the year. When Tezuka walked into practice Monday morning with his eyes burning, even though his face was as stoic as ever, the regulars knew something was going to change.

As the group of eight gathered for lunch, Fuji gave the buchou a smile and said, "Nee, Tezuka-kun, are you still upset about losing to that girl in the tournament over the weekend?"

Lost. The buchou of Seigaku never lost. The regular looked to their leader with shock. It barely even registered in their minds that he had lost to a girl. It shocked them that he lost in the first place.

"I am not. She was a worthy opponent," Assured Tezuka, as he thought of the amount of laps Fuji would be doing.

"That's good. Her name was Echizen Ryoma, correct?" Fuji questioned. Inui started to take down notes and thought about the name Fuji had mentioned. It sounded familiar.

"Yes," He replied shortly.

Fuji gave an eerie smile, "I think you should look at this then." He handed Tezuka a small pile of stapled papers. Tezuka took them and looked to see it was a print out of an online article with the heading Princess of Tennis printed on it. His facial features did not change as he started to read the article, but he did not notice Fuji hand out copies to the rest of the regulars.

_Princess Of Tennis_

_Fifteen year-old Echizen Ryoma has taken the tennis world by storm. The tennis prodigy's latest victory came in the form of the Olympics. Pairing up with her older brother Ryoga, the two fought their way to receiving the gold medal in mixed doubles becoming the first team in 88 years to win the honor. The two have been named the Samurai Pair or the Samurai Siblings after their deceased father's old tennis nickname Samurai Nanjirou. _

_This was not the start of the legend of Samurai Junior though. Starting at the age of seven she entered in tennis competition. At the age of eight she switched to male tennis competition because the female side did not challenge her enough. By the times she was ten she won four National Junior titles, one in female competition and three in male. _

_Tragedy stroke upon her win of a fifth consecutive title, her parents went to pick her up and were involved in a car accident. The two were killed on collision. Leaving the eleven year-old and her twenty year-old half-brother to take care of themselves. Four months after Ryoma was admitted to a rehabilitation program for unknown reasons, but sixth months later she was back in the tennis scene taking game after game, before starting to train with the legendary Coach Andrew Boyd for the Olympics._

_The tennis star is not only a prodigy on the courts, but also in school. Starting homeschooling early Echizen got an advantage over many kids finishing homeschooling programs in a fraction of the time it should have taken to complete them. Ryoma is supposedly finishing her last year of high school before she signs a contract to go pro at the end of the year. She is said to be competing in the US Open next summer. _

_Watch out all you tennis players out there because the Princess of Tennis will beat you. As the Echizen family say, "Mada mada dane."_

"Why are we going to tour this school, Aniki?" Ryoma asked her brother when she got into his car.

Ryoga placed his tennis bag in the backseat before getting into the driver's seat because the Echizens did not go anywhere without tennis equipment. "Because Dad went there as a kid and I thought you should look at school other then Rikkaidai. Plus Dad's old coach said she had his old racket that she wanted to give to us."

Ryoma gave him a look with one eyebrow raised. It clearly asked if he actually thought she was going anywhere, but to Rikkaidai. Not just because her only friends went there, but because of the fact there would be death by Seiichi smiles, Niou pranks, and Sanada punches (Ryoga would be getting punched not her, Sanada would never hit a girl) if she didn't.

"Okay, fine. The old hag said we could use a tennis court because ours are still being fixed," Ryoga grumbled. Ryoma nodded, the Japan house had not been as good a state as the California house. There was a thick layer of dust on every surface, plants running loose all over the garden, and worst of all the four tennis courts situated behind the house were cracked and worn, the nets ripped and tennis shed in shambles. They did not know why their father wanted four tennis courts because only one was ever used, but they couldn't argue with a dead man.

Ryoma held onto her seat tightly as Ryoga made a hard left turn on a yellow light. She prayed not to die the same way her parents did. "Can you please be more careful?" She asked in a panicked voice, she was deathly afraid of cars after the accident she had mostly gotten over the fear, but when it was Ryoga driving the fear came back tenfold.

"No worries, Chibisuke, we're here anyways." Ryoga notified the girl in the passenger's seat. She flew out the door in an instant, almost falling and only fully regaining balance after her heart rate slowed. Ryoga rolled his eyes at her, his driving wasn't that bad. He had learned from their father after all and he never got into an acci- wait maybe that wasn't such a great example.

He grabbed both their tennis bags then locked the car doors. The siblings walked towards the sounds of balls being hit could be heard. As the approached the courts an old lady wearing pink waved them over to her.

"Hey, Old Hag!" Ryoga yelled as they walked over to the older woman.

She swatted him lightly on the head and said, "I'm not that old, you damn brat."

Ryoga rubbed his head with a scowl on his face, while Ryoma just smirked from under her hat. _'Karma,' _She thought having still not completely forgiven him for almost killing them earlier in the car.

"Ryoma, you are so cute! You look exactly the same as when I saw you at the funeral four years ago." Ryuzaki Sumire claimed, causing Ryoma to now scowl at not only the memory of the funeral, but at the thought that she hadn't grown taller since then. Ryoga laughed on the side, he seemed to have gotten over his "injury."

"So, how about that tour?" Ryuzaki asked the siblings. They shared a look between themselves. Ryoga thought through the amount of pain he would receive if she did not attend Rikkaidai on the off chance she actually liked it at Seigaku. He shivered, _'Ryoma is going to Rikkaidai.'_

"You don't have to waste your time doing that, Old Hag. Ryoma already knows where she is going." Ryoga inwardly nodded to himself, genius Ryuzaki wouldn't question if Ryoma was going to Seigaku or not because of the vagueness.

Ryuzaki smiled, Seigaku wouldn't lose now that Ryoma was joining. "Are you sure? She might get lost on her first day of school." Ryuzaki questioned. Both Echizens nodded in response.

"Which tennis court can we use, Old Hag?" Ryoga asked, he wanted to get out of this conversation quickly. Ryuzaki Sumire was scary when she didn't get her way, but if he played this out right she wouldn't know till the first day of school that Ryoma wasn't attending Seigaku. By that point in time it would be too late.

"Any court. My players are at lunch for another fifteen minutes, but do you mind doing a showcase for them after? I want them to see how pro players can play." The sibling shrugged it was a fair deal. They got use of a court in exchange for playing against other people.

"Hai." They both agreed.

Ryuzaki showed them to the nearest court and went to go find their father's old racket to give to them. They both set down their tennis bag and took the needed equipment out. Both grabbed their rackets and a canister of neon green tennis balls.

They walked to their respective sides of the court and headed to the net. Ryoga spun his racket without even asking to choose. It landed on rough.

"Service," Ryoga stated with a smug smile his face.

"End. Don't get cocky, Aniki," Ryoma responded to the unspoken challenge.

The first ball was served a normal, fast serve. Ryoma hit it back easily and Ryoga was about to continue the rally when someone yelled, "Hey! What are you doing here?" Making Ryoga effectively miss the speeding ball.

A teen with brown hair and a blue headband stood at the entrance of the gate, two others stood a little behind him obviously his cronies. Ryoma took a deep breath as her hands balled themselves into fists around her racket. Ryoga knew that look, it didn't matter if she had gotten over what those old geezers had said or not, after two days without tennis because of the flight and lack of a usable court at home Ryoma was in tennis withdrawal. He was glad he was on the other side of the court because she looked like she was going to kill the kid that had stopped their game with her racket.

"Kid, we have permission to be here, so please, _leave_." Ryoga emphasized the last word in hopes that the boy would listen to his flight instead of fight response and get as far away from his sister as possible.

Arai was ticked that two outsiders were using their courts. He was about to verbalize his complaints when Ryoga served the ball towards Ryoma. She still glared at Arai, but increased the speed of the ball with her left-handed forehand.

"Stop playing! This is Seigaku property!" Arai screamed. The ball was hit into Ryoma's court; she took aim and blasted the neon sphere at the head of the annoying boy. He hit the ground as the ball knocked into his forehead.

"15- All," Ryoga stated. He grabbed another ball from his shorts' pocket.

"So worth it," He heard Ryoma mumble. _'Maybe she has spent too much time with Yukimura,'_ He thought.

He bounced the ball against the court before he threw it into the air. As he brought his racket down in the arc movement, he heard a panicked voice, "Arai! Arai, are you okay?" The voice distracted him and the tennis ball dropped to the ground. He had missed the serve. Now Ryoma wasn't the only one pissed.

A group of teenagers surrounded the boy that was watching them from the place he had fallen to the ground. "What the hell did you do to Arai?" A spiky haired teen called out to the siblings.

Ryoga's eye gave the smallest twitch, he looked at Ryoma, she was usually the calm one in these situations and he knew he could not murder a family friend's team, but her expression promised pain if he did not serve the ball. So he followed the path of less pain and served.

The Seigaku team just watched in awe the ball was moving faster than they have every seen before. "What is happening here? There was a team meeting scheduled five minutes ago." Tezuka's voice echoed through the crowd of non-regulars. The crowd separated into a path for the captain and the regulars as the passed through to see who had broken the rule of no unapproved matches.

"Is this all you got? No wonder your becoming a lawyer." Ryoma commented hitting the ball back to Ryoga.

"Ha ha, Ryoma. You know I barely played since London," he answered back. Ryoga added more power into his backhand.

"Your fault, not mine," She replied shortly. She looked for the weak point and took aim once she found it.

The ball flew past Ryoga, he ran to hit the ball barely missing it as it bounced a second time. "Yeah, 'cause making sure I can get into law school isn't as important as tennis." The look she gave him was answer enough. She supported his decision to quit tennis and become a lawyer, but to her it would never be better than tennis.

"30-15," He stated with a sigh. Ryoga moved back into position to serve and he was stopped yet again, this time by a bespectacled boy. What was it with these Seigaku kids and getting in the middle of matches?

"Kid, I don't know what they taught you in school, but usually when people are playing a game of tennis you get off of the court they are playing on." Ryoga explained to him, like he was explaining to a child.

"I would like to know why you are using our courts." Ryoga's eye twitched at the question. Did Ryuzaki tell them nothing?

"Move," the simple command was not made by Ryoga, who Tezuka was facing, but by Ryoma, who looked ready to kill.

"You're the girl fro-" Tezuka was about to reply.

"Tezuka, move or you will most likely find a tennis ball aimed at your head like Arai." Ryuzaki commented as she walked onto the court. Tezuka followed her suggestion and moved to her side. Ryoga continued with his serve after he was past the singles lines.

Ryuzaki turned to the rest of her team that was gathered around the outside of the fence watching the show. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to two of the world's best players Echizen Ryoga and Ryoma. The winners of the 2012 Olympic gold medal for mixed doubles." The crowd erupted in whispers, but the regulars stayed quiet. They were watching the girl in the hat, the one that beat their undefeatable captain.

One game turned to five and five to nine. Ryoma 6-3 won the match. The two siblings gathered the balls and started towards their bags. The Seigaku team had watched the match with baited breath, hanging on each point scored and each attack made. The two grabbed their bags and headed toward Ryuzaki.

"Would you two mind answering some questions?" Ryuzaki asked them.

"I'm fine with it," said Ryoga already back in his normal happy mood now that the game was over and the stress of the last couple weeks was off his shoulders.

Ryoma was about to answer when a generic music tone went off from within her pocket. She knew who it was immediately because only one person had the ringtone. Ryoga also knew because he gave her a shooing motion and said, "Go talk to your boyfriend I'll deal with this."

Ryoma scowled at the use of the title, "Mada mada dane Aniki." She pressed the send button, put the phone to her ear, and walked away from the crowd that started to eagerly asked questions to Ryoga.

"Moshi, moshi." She said into the phone.

"When were you going to tell me?" Yukimura's voice still held its usual gentleness, but underneath it sounded threatening.

"Tell you what?" Ryoma questioned innocently.

"Well, I heard a rumor that Tezuka from Seigaku was defeated over the weekend by a girl with a white cap."

"Really?"

"Ryoma, when were you going to tell me?"

"First day of school."

"You would be in Japan two weeks and not tell me. I thought we were closer than that." The sadness in his voice made Ryoma feel guilty. Damn him and his manipulative ways. He wanted something for this.

With a sigh she asked, "What do you want?"

"Ryoma, I'm offended. I would never-"

"Seiichi, you're not Yagyuu. What do you want?"

"Ryoga told us once that you are a very good cook…" She didn't like where this was leading. She hated to cook.

"…How about dinner at your house tomorrow night?" It led there.

"I'm the master at take-out, sure."

"Ryoma, I think a home cooked meal would be the perfect way to make-up to me the betrayal I felt when I had to learn that one of my best friends was in Japan without even notifying me." Dang it, there was that sad voice again.

"Fine," she gave in with a sigh. "How many am I cooking for? The whole team, the three demons, what?"

"Just two," Yukimura said in a voice that was too happy. "I'll see you tomorrow at seven. Remember to text me your address." The phone cut off. Ryoma just sighed and walked back toward the group of people.


	8. The End

The End: I'll Never Forget You, My Heart Aches For You, I Wish I Could Be With You

Ryoma sat on the kitchen counter bouncing a neon ball on her red racket. She tried to ignore the smell of smoke that still had not cleared hours later. The Queen of Take-out refused to even look like she had given in to her inability to cook. Ryoga seemed to have "forgot" to mention that only half of her cooking, no matter if she made the dish a thousand times before, came out edible.

A muffled gagging noise brought her attention to Seiichi standing in the kitchen doorway trying to mask a look of disgust.

Words rolled of her tongue easily, "I told you I hate cooking."

"Yes, but you didn't tell me that you couldn't cook." His words not a loud covered by his sleeve.

"People should really stop assuming things."

She jumped off the counter and looked at the male before her. He dressed himself in a purple button up shirt and a pair of jeans. Ryoma looked down at her own attire of tennis clothes and shrugged. She really didn't have anything.

Yukimura smiled at her nonchalant shrug. One of the things he liked about her is that she cared about no ones opinion. He handed the green haired girl a trio of carnations, one pink and another red, while the last was simply a stripped mixture of the two and white.

Ryoma accepted the gift and did not know what to say. A blush rose from her cheeks and suddenly she wished she had tried harder to make dinner for him.

His eyes softened at the lovely sight of Ryoma flustered and blushing.

"Come on, I think I have a better idea," Seiichi said.

He navigated them to the front door with ease that made Ryoma have to stop herself from questioning how he knew where he was going and how he got in in the first place. In the end she figured she really didn't want to know.

Ryoma slipped on her shoes at the door and looked at her tennis case for a moment. Seiichi let a small laugh escape before he took the racket in Ryoma's hand, slipped it in the case, and pulled it over his shoulder. The duo left the house after Ryoma locked the door.

The Child of God opened the car door for his date and put her tennis racket case next to his own in the truck of the car. You never knew when a life-changing match could occur.

Seiichi's driving soared above her brother's and his presence calmed her away from her habit of gripping the seat under her. The two laughed at the stories both told of their companions from the time spent apart and soon Yukimura pulled his car into a spot.

Ryoma let a silent sigh of relief pass through her lips as instead of a fancy restaurant, like her cousin demanded she present herself at sometimes, they arrived in front of a fast food place and if her hearing was correct it could seemed to be next to a street court. Ryoma smiled looking into Seiichi's eyes and he did the same.

This is an ending to their struggle from a summer to end in glory, but it is also a beginning to a life that doesn't always make sense and wasn't completely fair. This was a continuing of a friendship and maybe the start of something more. Mada Mada Dane because they still had such a long way to go.

**AN: I'm fucking done with the POT archive. This is the end don't ask me about anything else. GOODBYE!**


End file.
